Axinite-(Mn) (rare locality specimen)

Item Description

Here we have a rare old-time specimen from the famous Little Three Mine in San Diego County that dates back to the 1970s. This locality is famous for producing the best blue Topaz crystals from anywhere in San Diego County along with vivid orange Spessartines, but this is a much rarer and desirable specimen of Axinite-(Mn). This toenail sized specimen is a fairly sharp, well-formed brown bladed crystal, free of matrix. When backlit, you can see there is good internal translucency. To top it off, the piece is nearly crystallized all the way around, only one edge has a bit of roughness, but it's otherwise complete and undamaged. A fine quality must-have for any fan of pegmatite minerals or specimens from the famous Little Three Mine.
From the collection of Bill Larson of Fallbrook, California. Bill is a well-known gem and mineral dealer as well as a miner and collector. Bill is synonymous with minerals of San Diego County, and owned and operated famous mines such as the Stewart Lithia, the Tourmaline Queen, the Pala Chief and the Himalaya, producing some of the most iconic mineral specimens to come out of the area during the 1970s-1980s. Bill is also known as "Burma Bill" and traveled the world for decades in search of fine gems and minerals, and was directly involved in the in-person acquisition and importation of superb specimens and stones from Myanmar (Burma). You can read his biography at https://mineralogicalrecord.com/biographies_labels/larsonwilliam-f/